> The Universal Postal Union set up a fee so richer countries would pay more to have their international mail delivered than countries with developing economies.
> "The central idea is that any citizen or business should be able to send mail packages through the Global Postal Network to any destination," said Schoorl.
> At the time, China was considered a country with a developing economy, meaning the country would be charged less for international mail than other countries. And that went unchanged for decades.
> As e-commerce took off in the 2010s, China found itself with a major competitive advantage. It could ship to North America at a cheap rate. Canada Post and the U.S. Postal Service were delivering packages and not being compensated very well, says Schoorl.
* https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/shipping-canada-china-...
> China is still considered a “transitional” country by the UPU, which means it enjoys a lower rate for sending mail to a developed nation like the US. As a result, mail services from China to the US cost less than Americans are charged by their own postal service for a comparable domestic delivery. This gives Chinese sellers a competitive edge over American sellers, especially in e-commerce platforms like eBay or Amazon, where shipping cost is a major factor for buyers.
* https://medium.com/@contact_53404/why-is-it-so-cheap-to-ship...
It shouldn't be cheaper to ship something from China than from the next town over.
Then to paper over the losses of having to carry that massively underpriced mail from China, local deliveries have to increase in cost.